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Topic Review (Newest First)

11-26-2013 12:41 AM

Subtletanks91

Quote:

Originally Posted by macquisition76

Finally got some Microworms. I can finally join.

I've had fruit flies before when I had dart frogs. It's hard to get them without some escaping. Plus make sure they're wingless and make sure none with wings accidently sneak in. But I think they would be great for fish. Due to size they would be best for medium to large size fish.

That's my two cents though.....

They are great for fish, I get the flightless ones from petsmart, but I want to culture them myself, but I need some info on how exactly. I seen my 9 month old beta rear up just out and get on climbing up the side of the tank. It was really amazing to watch

11-25-2013 11:27 PM

macquisition76

Finally got some Microworms. I can finally join.

I've had fruit flies before when I had dart frogs. It's hard to get them without some escaping. Plus make sure they're wingless and make sure none with wings accidently sneak in. But I think they would be great for fish. Due to size they would be best for medium to large size fish.

That's my two cents though.....

11-25-2013 03:40 PM

Elli

Thanks for the advice ivan.f and Monster Fish!

Anyone in the Chicago burbs have a grindal worm culture starter for sale? Please PM me if you do!

11-25-2013 02:15 AM

Subtletanks91

What about fruit flies.

11-25-2013 01:33 AM

aluka

anyone know a good source of daphnia?

and count me in! I have microworms and banana worms. =)

11-24-2013 04:20 PM

Monster Fish

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subtletanks91

Also how do you culture grindal worms soilesly? I have been culturing them in the coconut fiber and it does well but the last one got to wet and I never sprayed it, and I had to reculture it, now waiting for the culture to ramp up again and fast because I have beta fry I am feeding micro worms and grindal worms.

I started using this method recently and it seems to be doing well. The worms take less time to swarm the food I place on the craft mesh. Harvesting is easy too. Just put some food on the mesh, wait and hour, then dunk the mesh in a jar of water to rinse the worms and harvest them with a pipette.

The coconut coir method works until the substrate becomes too saturated from the worms metabolic waste. The coir becomes too acidic, worm production stops, and the culture crashes. With coir, you should restart your culture after two or three months, depending on the production. If you feed less, you'll have less production but the culture will last longer. It's a good idea to have more than one culture running at the same time so just in case one culture crashes, you have a backup to start harvesting from. Another downside of the coir method is that you can still get mites.

11-24-2013 06:56 AM

Art by Stef*

I have the same micro worm culture going for a year now. I don't always need it, but faithfully make a new batch every 10 days.

Cheapest Instant Mash Potatoes I can find. (Oatmeal gets smellier, and flies seem to prefer them to potato)

I put an eyeballed measured cup o potatoes in, add about equal amount water FROM AQUARIUM in. Stir and "furrow" with a plastic fork. (You can make neat rows like a farmer planting corn if you like) "Pepper" with a lil Brewers Yeast. Then I use said plastic fork to plop and furrow a forkful of old culture to da middle. Cut a paper towel about an 1 1/2", dunk it in your aquarium water, and place it on da creamy center o worms. Crisscross it with a another, slightly smaller, dampened (from aquarium water) paper towel. You can now use tweezers to pluck the paper towel and wring out to feed your fish, without worrying about adding potato or oatmeal goo. (Also can use the little paper towel to "squeegee" the sides of container.)

When replacing the paper towel, it is now re-wet with new aquarium water.
The fork gets tossed. I want no confusion with it later on.

I have back up containers, and start the whole thing again in about 10 days, with fresh paper towel scraps and a new plastic fork.

I just wish something would eat fire ants. There are unwanted "cultures" of them all over the place.

Stef*

11-24-2013 05:41 AM

Subtletanks91

Ok guys and culture experts. I have the fruit flies from petsmart two of them and while one ramps up to produce more the other is overflowing how can I culture them the easiest way possible because my betas and fire belly toads love them.

Also how do you culture grindal worms soilesly? I have been culturing them in the coconut fiber and it does well but the last one got to wet and I never sprayed it, and I had to reculture it, now waiting for the culture to ramp up again and fast because I have beta fry I am feeding micro worms and grindal worms.

11-23-2013 03:02 AM

Monster Fish

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elli

Perhaps one of you can give me some guidance with blackworms? My scarlet badis loves them! Right now all I have is a little cup in the fridge with a bit of water. Is there a better way of growing or keeping them?

And is there another kind of larger worm to culture? I'd love to start up something else to give him some dietary options. Tried microworms but he ignored them. Was going to try them with the guppy fry, but it looks like the culture died. I think it's just a little too cold on my counter-top overnight.

I haven't been able to breed blackworms but I've kept them alive for much longer by keeping them in containers with plenty of floating plants, compared to when I used to keep them in the fridge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mizuhuman

whoa, orange head roaches?! they're big! what do you feed those guys to? bichirs?

I feed adults and large nymphs to my ornate horned frog. I feed the smaller nymphs to my fish. I just cut them into tiny pieces and toss them into the tank.

11-23-2013 02:22 AM

ivan.f

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elli

Perhaps one of you can give me some guidance with blackworms? My scarlet badis loves them! Right now all I have is a little cup in the fridge with a bit of water. Is there a better way of growing or keeping them?

And is there another kind of larger worm to culture? I'd love to start up something else to give him some dietary options. Tried microworms but he ignored them. Was going to try them with the guppy fry, but it looks like the culture died. I think it's just a little too cold on my counter-top overnight.

Not sure if this is the place for me to answer.. but I'll do it anyway my scarlet badis loved microworms, bloodworms/tubiflex worms (I know i'm not suppose to give) and blackworms. To be honest Blood,tubi and blackworms are timing consuming. They don't culture as fast (from what I have tried) and it's best you buy them in bulk or for a large portion. But this is what I do. I actually have a 1 gallon with eco-comp where I have over 100+ MTS with 4 adult and 2 baby Assassin snails (which helps me breed more of them) and I feed the MTS. Along side that I have a lot of plants and moss. I dump the whole tubi, blackworms in the tank and my nano filter is for 5 gallon. So the oxygen exchange is very good (which blood,tubi and black worms need). So when the worms get dumped in.. and since they are aquatic and feed off the remaining food. They slowly culture and when I say slowly.. I mean very slowly! Water change every week.. I also sometime put my fish in there if I have to do a major change in my 8 Gallon tank. By the time I'm done.. fishes go crazy and eat till they're full. As for my Scarlets (they died recently due to jumping out the tank) they enjoy and love microworms to death. Always hunting for them. Hope it kind of answers your question.. sorry for any mistakes using google voice to text to type.

11-22-2013 10:19 PM

Elli

Perhaps one of you can give me some guidance with blackworms? My scarlet badis loves them! Right now all I have is a little cup in the fridge with a bit of water. Is there a better way of growing or keeping them?

And is there another kind of larger worm to culture? I'd love to start up something else to give him some dietary options. Tried microworms but he ignored them. Was going to try them with the guppy fry, but it looks like the culture died. I think it's just a little too cold on my counter-top overnight.